From: Terry W. Colvin (fortean1@mindspring.com)
Date: Tue Feb 11 2003 - 23:56:47 MST
CYBERIA
< http://www.shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.html >
What matters is this: Diversity plus freedom of choice creates inequality,
and the greater the diversity, the more extreme the inequality. In systems
where many people are free to choose between many options, a small subset
of the whole will get a disproportionate amount of traffic (or attention, or
income), even if no members of the system actively work towards such an
outcome. This has nothing to do with moral weakness, selling out, or any other
psychological explanation. The very act of choosing, spread widely enough and
freely enough, creates a power law distribution. Inequality occurs in large and
unconstrained social systems for the same reasons stop-and-go traffic occurs on
busy roads, not because it is anyone's goal, but because it is a reliable
property that emerges from the normal functioning of the system.
-- Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1@mindspring.com > Alternate: < fortean1@msn.com > Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html > Sites: * Fortean Times * Mystic's Haven * TLCB * U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program ------------ Member: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB) Mailing List TLCB Web Site: < http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org >[Vietnam veterans, Allies, CIA/NSA, and "steenkeen" contractors are welcome.]
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